PixelatedRESULTS: Carson Hocevar Wins 54th Annual Redbud 400 at Anderson Speedway
ANDERSON, Indiana (July 14, 2020) — Carson Hocevar powered his way to perhaps the biggest win in his young career with a convincing victory in the 54th Annual Redbud 400 at Anderson Speedway, driving the same car that won the race last year with Johnny VanDoorn.
The VanDoorn family recently welcomed a new addition into the fold, leading Johnny to skip this year’s Red Bud to be with his newborn daughter. This left the seat open for Hocevar, who was already entered in his own family-owned machine prior to being asked to fill in for last year’s race champ.
“It was tiring as hell,” an exhausted Hocevar said in victory lane after leading nearly 180 consecutive laps at the end of the race. “Thank you TK Racing… Butch, Johnny… everybody. I’m just the lucky guy that got to fill in for Johnny. I hope he’s having fun at home watching. I hope I did him proud. I’m sure glad I was able to race this thing.
Hocevar spent the first 120 laps following polesitter Casey Johnson, who started from the outside line, and used that momentum again and again throughout the race’s early restarts.
On lap 121, Hocevar took the for the first time, scraping by Johnson in the process, and needing a little bit of repair work to the right front of his car during his first trip down pit road.
He would then relinquish the lead back to Johson on lap 178, falling backwards in the top five for several laps.
Hocevar got back to the lead on lap 224, then set sail, leading the remainder of the 400 lap event enroute to the trip to victory lane.
“It’s tough, man. It was tiring. It was 400 laps, you were up on the wheel a hundred times. I got really free at the end and Josh started to reel me in.”
Josh Brock made a late race run at Hocevar, taking advantage of the leader being held up a bit in lap traffic. Try as he might, Brock just could not quite get to Hocevar, settling for the runner up spot instead.
“First of all, congrats to them. They’re a heck of a team. I’ve run behind that red 71 several times with Johnny VanDoorn, and I know he’s back home watching. Good job to Carson, they did a great job. When it came to us, it did it in a good way. I was giving all she had and all she wrote. If it weren’t for lapped traffic, who knows what would have happened. You might have had a better view of the race. I’m glad to finish second, it’s my best finish in the Redbud.”
Sammy Smith fought in the middle of the top ten for much of the early portions of the race before entering the fray in the top five late in the going, bringing home his Kyle Busch Motorsports machine in third place.
“We struggled for the first 200. We didn’t have any fire-off speed, but once we got going we were pretty decent. I think we were definitely a top-three car. We didn’t have anything for the 71, but we had a top three car.”
Unofficial Results of the 54th Annual Redbud 400:
| 1. | 71 – Carson Hocevar |
| 2. | 17 – Josh Brock |
| 3. | 51 – Sammy Smith |
| 4. | 5J – Casey Johnson |
| 5. | 20 – Jack Dossey III |
| 6. | 5 – Dalton Armstrong |
| 7. | 41 – Hunter Jack |
| 8. | 51 – Stephen Nasse |
| 9. | 12 – Dan Leeck |
| 10. | 1 – Cody Coughlin |
| 11. | 29 – Mason Keller |
| 12. | 35 – Greg Van Alst |
| 13. | 62 – Jaren Crabtree |
| 14. | 28 – Jeff Marcum |
| 15. | 15 – Brett Robinson |
| 16. | 14 – Austin Nason |
| 17. | 10 – Steve Dorer |
| 18. | 22 – Brandon Oakley |
| 19. | 5T – Rick Turner |
| 20. | 6 – Logan Runyon |
| 21. | 23 – Eddie Van Meter |
| 22. | 93 – Austin Thom |
– Daniel Vining, Twitter: @danielvining
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